And there you go… falling into the political. “Protect our kids, not your guns”, the signs scream. Only a few problems with that.

One, our guns would protect your kids, if you would let them.

Two, in regards to the shooting in Florida, people TRIED to warn of Cruz’s intent… and authorities DROPPED the ball big time!

Three, there was a recent school attack where an officer rushed in and shot the shooter, saving many more lives. (Again, our guns can protect if you’ll let them.)

Four, it sickens me that kids are marching, all but begging for everyone’s guns – and by extension, liberty – to be taken away. They don’t understand.

Five, many of the kids who ‘marched’ used it as an excuse to cause violence. Contradictory, don’t you think?

Six, those kids who refused to take part in the ‘walkout’ were punished in varying ways… including one who did not want to participate and was later attacked by another student, beaten severely. The attacker was arrested, but predictably RELEASED, and the school is doing NOTHING about it.

These kids claim to be protesting violence… but where is their excuse when they brutally attack those who do not ‘conform’? This is ridiculous. You want to protest violence, then do so. It’s our right. But DO NOT under ANY circumstances use that ‘protest’ as an excuse to cause MORE violence! Come on, people, this isn’t that complicated!

GUNS do not kill people; a gun is an inanimate object. BAD PEOPLE with guns kill people! Take the guns away, bad people will find other ways to kill others. Knife, bat, pipe, vehicle, even punches and kicks… you can’t ban them all! Murder has been around since ancient times… before guns ever existed! First murder ever committed? A ROCK was used. Yes, that’s right. A ROCK. Which literally can be found anywhere on the planet, trillions of times over. Whatcha going to do, ban all rocks? GOOD LUCK with that one!

Instead of trying to take away guns from the legal and sane owners, maybe people should instead try to listen a little better when someone raises an alarm about unstable individuals. Cruz should have been stopped long before he attacked. But the ‘authorities’ dropped the ball and then made it worse.

You think these ‘gun-free’ zones will stop a criminal? You think a criminal out to kill will obey a ‘no-gun’ law? NO! The criminal will think ‘Oh, this is perfect. I have a whole lot of defenseless victims, and I can do what I want to them with impunity!’ And the police… well. When SECONDS count, the Police are ONLY MINUTES away. And that’s IF they respond at all, and don’t stand around ‘staging’ as the Parkland police did while Cruz continued his rampage.

If guns are outlawed, ONLY THE OUTLAWS will have guns! Those who do not learn from history… are doomed to repeat it.

“First, they came for the guns, and those who own them…”

And then, the inevitable outcome of that, if guns are all taken: “And last, they came for me… but there was no one left to defend me, and no guns left with which to defend myself.”

The foolish will let government repeat history, and take the guns and the freedom of speech that the founding fathers fought and died to win. Then they will see true helplessness and oppression. Look at what government does now, and then think what an unarmed populace will be treated to. Gun-free says “hey, come on in and do whatever depraved thing you want, because no one here can stop you.” And if we remove the left leaning Democrats from the shooters, way over 90% of the shootings wouldn’t occur. “Save the children, or abort them before they are born.” Nice. The other problem with the foolish? They do not listen, or learn from facts.

Ariel, would you support empowering the Chief of Police to confiscate the guns of someone he considers dangerous? Where I live in Mass, the decision to grant a permit to carry is made by the Chief of Police (I’m pretty sure). It’s not the only reason why — culture matters too — but Mass has the lowest rate of gun deaths in the country (I think).

I couldn’t agree more! I have a question for people who want to take away our right to “Keep and Bear Arms”: It is already against the law to commit murder yet it still happens multiple times a day – especially is cities that have strict gun laws. So what makes you think that banning “assault weapons” will prevent ANY murder let alone any gun related CRIME? It does not make any sense!

ream that up at? The primary reason I have my guns (including a Ruger pistol with 17 9mm JHP rounds) is protection of my family and myself. I was robbed at gunpoint once. I will never lay down in the wood for a criminal and I will never be a victim again.
– Read the papers, bad guys are doing evil to innocent people every day

Yeah, bad people who happen to be GUN OWNERS. Maybe if you took the time to see what the “ban everything” people actually want, rather then jerk off about “defending your family”, or “home invasion” snuff films while polishing your Ruger pistol with 17 9mm JHP rounds you’d notice that nuance..

Also, anyone notice how gun owners add in whatever special gun they have in their collection unsolicited in every conversation? It’s never “I own a gun”, but always “I own a (insert gun) with (paragraph of technical information). Usually in posts where they’re assuming that the other readers don’t know anything about guns.

“bad people who happen to be gun owners. ” really you went there. like if you own a gun you are a bad person?
Fact : most guns (95%) used in a crime are not legally owned. Fact: most guns used in a crime (98%) are not obtained legally . so from this we know bad people who use guns to commit crime have guns they didn’t get legally and they got these guns for the purpose of commiting a crime. so this also shows that there are illegal guns available for bad people who know where to get them. So how will having tougher gun laws or taking guns away from people who obey our laws. stop any bad guy who really wants a gun and wasn’t going to obey the laws in the 1st place??

I’m appalled a comic strip, which is supposed to be fun and entertaining, would dare take such a stance. Throughout all of these massive gun debates, people are continually blaming the gun. Did that gun pull its own trigger and start shooting people? No, it was a PERSON using said gun. How can we blame the weapon when it was in the hands of an obviously deranged human being with little to no regard for human life? Moving forward, “Zits” will no longer have a place in our home. When you blame an inanimate object for what a person has done….and especially in such a controversial topic, it’s time to walk away. You took “fun” and “entertaining” to something disgusting.

You’re wrong on several counts. There have been comparable numbers of mass shootings in Canada and Europe, there is absolutely no correlation between the number of guns in a country and the murder rate, and countries where guns aren’t easily available find other ways to commit mass murder. Quit parroting memes and learn to think.

You ever heard of someone walking into a School and forcebly get everyone so Drunk they died from it? No? Then maybe that’s a pretty silly Argument, also, do you have a problem with stricter alcohol laws to combat drunk driving for example? Then why are guns different?

Could you imagine if after 9-11, when everything settled and people went “We need to tighten airline security to make sure this doesn’t happen again” Someone went “Noo you’re infringing on my right to fly without going through a metal detector, like the founding fathers wanted it!”? No, then stop being silly just because it’s now about your boom sticks!

I can no longer read ZITS! Using this cartoon to further a political agenda is sad! Maybe next week to can have one of their neighbors show up wearing an NRA hat! No, you wouldn’t do that because you would be afraid of the fire storm it would conjure! Blaming the NRA or guns for the ills of our society reminds me of when Nero blamed the Christians when he burned Rome to the ground and also when the Germans blamed the Jews for all of Germany’s problems back in the 30’s! And we all know how that turned out! Also banning guns will be like banning alcohol back in the 20 – 30s and making drugs illegal which we know that doesn’t work!

Fun-fact: Now the Germans blame the amount of weapons in the USA for the tremendous amount of killed people by weapons. Why? Because we never had that kind of a problem (in this dimension). We live happy without weapons. Look what happend in Australia 20 years ago, after gun control!

I know that the sign says “Protect children not guns,” but sometimes, guns CAN save children. If someone was trying to kidnap a child, the only thing that would stop him would be a gun in his direction. But, of course, I agree that we should try to keep them from falling into the wrong hands.

It’s a comic strip. And they’re not taking a stand, they’re showing off for the crowd. You know who really took a stand? The school officer who stopped the shooting in Maryland because he was carrying a gun. The folks at the NRA have far more angels on their side than the drones chanting “OBEY”.

Thank you, and ignore the haters. Even cartoonists are allowed to have opinions, and it should not be surprising that a cartoonist who spends their life chronicling the lives of teenagers would have an opinion about the lives of teenagers.

The “haters” are the people joining the marches. All you have to do is look at their signs. It’s 100% political (helping the Democrats), not saving kids. In the back of their minds the marchers are praying and hoping for more murdered kids because that would further their agenda. What’s a little bit of “incidental damage” when you’re trying to grab totalitarian control of a country? These same folks saying they support “kids’ lives” are hate-filled, murderous psychopaths who want to kill the millions who don’t agree with them.

I have been a faithful reader for several years and I am saddened to see that you have chosen to become part of the leftist hysteria, espousing political beliefs in your comic strip. “Protecting our kids” is so much more than gun control and many people are unwilling to discuss the other aspects that need attention. I previously had enjoyed being able to escape the conflict of the political world for a few minutes by reading your comic strip. Unfortunately, I won’t be reading anymore.

Thanks for today’s most-timely strip and also for Baby Blues on the same issue. It’s time to put an end to the NRA and pro-gun lobbyist from hijacking public security in the name of a long-outdated provision in the U.S. Constitution.

Ignore the haters and ignorant who will bash this strip to bits (probably most of them don’t have children themselves and wouldn’t understand what it’s like to lose one to senseless violence — until it happens to them). Yes, you have the right to defend yourselves and homes when necessary…but at what price of innocent blood?

Used to like Zits but no more. I don’t see them standing up for bullying other kids. I don’t see them standing up for kids dying from texting and driving. You’re just another liberal trying to push your liberal agenda. Just a group of Tide Pod eating jerks being exploited. Bad people are not going to follow the law. I carry a firearm to protect myself and those I care about from these bad people if or when the time comes. I don’t understand why that’s so hard for you liberals to understand. Bye!

WTF. I loved your comic strip until now! When you became political …… I’m done with you. I am also cancelling my subscription to the liberal newspaper called the Telegraph Herald (TH) in Dubuque, IA who publishes your comic strip. Good riddance. Unless you start publishing comics that are pro-life….only then, and only maybe then I would consider your comic strip of any importance.
I only subscribed to the TH because I read 2 comic strips, one was yours only because you stayed out of politics. The other reason is because we read the obits. I just cancelled my subscription to the TH effective immediately.
Stay with entertaining, you have now fallen to the lows of other entertainers who think they know better with their left-wing bias political status.
With Regret,
Dean

Actually, there are strips in this comic that has criticized texting and driving (Jeremy texting while waiting at a stoplight, only at the end to be rear-ended by his girlfriend’s car), so yes, the authors of this comic have addressed that issue!

You miss the point. School shootings are a made up problem that brings in the bucks. Things like texting and driving, or alcohol abuse, those are real problems. They just don’t become huge media movements because there’s no money in trying to tell liberals to drink less.

Thanks, Zits, for supporting the march. And we will be losing kids and adults and other humans to gun violence until a large part of this society, some of which were posting here, gets over their obsession with guns and the false idea that gun ownership has anything to do with liberty.

Dear Mr. Vanden-Eykel,
looking back at history it’s people like you who blindly follow a path that advertises violence and support violence with the excuse “It’s just for our freedom” who have created so much pain and suffering in human history. Read history books, think about what you have read (which shouldn’t be hard for you as a member of the upper intellectual weight class) and then tell me where you found that guns, other weapons, killing people who are not like you or don’t think like you , have ever created liberty.

Thank you. Zits is about high school students, and high school students are getting shot and killed.
Life isn’t just doing homework and fixing up old cars and trying to get along with your parents, though we might wish it were. In many generations teenagers have expressed their political opinions about the world they want to live in. These are the voters of tomorrow.

Unless they are cowards and stay outside during the shooting. Guns protect… put the guns in the school, if you really want to protect the kids… or take the kids out of the school and teach them at home…

Of the four leading causes of unnatural death, guns come in dead last. More are killed in auto accidents. Even more killed by drug over doses. Alcohol is the top killer. According to the World Health Organization, twenty five percent of deaths in people between the ages of nineteen and forty five are alcohol related. It makes just a much sense to put legal restrictions on the purchase of alcohol to protect people from drunk drivers as it does to increase the legal restrictions on guns. By the way, off all firearms, assault weapons are the least used in homicides at only two percent.

Very poor taste. The problem is the lack of God and family in our society. Guns or other weapons do not kill until put in irresponsible hands. I understand your rational of blame, but there are better ways to curtail violence. We need to put an emphasis on classic family values and not bring our youth up on video games and poor role models. It is a shame the way some children learn more disrespect than being respectful and becoming an asset to society. Please use your strip for a demonstration of proper values rather than for hate. Thank you!

Just for openers, there’s the lazy virtue signalling of it all. What is the strip really about, except showing off how politically aware you are? But all you’re really showing is that you have nothing to offer on this issue except jumping on a bandwagon and repeating the memes that have been created for you to repeat.

Meanwhile, gun control and school shootings continue to be issues where liberals have little to support their positions. Quick, tell us a law we can pass that will stop bad things from ever happening again? Ban all guns? People will kill with knives, with bats, with acid, with bombs, or with trucks.

School shootings aren’t the huge problem the media makes them seem. They certainly don’t justify taking away an individual’s right to defend themselves. If you really want to make school shootings even rarer than they are, a better solution is to have armed security guards in schools, not signs that say ‘no guns’. This was proven recently in Maryland, although liberals probably didn’t see that story.

Most disturbing of all perhaps is that you just don’t seem to be able to see the machinery behind the movement. You really think these protests, slogans, coordinated media interviews with photogenic kids, all happens spontaneously? This is as stage managed as a preteen beauty pageant, and twice as venial. But you follow along like a good little drone. “Thoughts and prayers are not enough so here’s a comic strip! I’m woke!”

Thanks for being brave enough to delve into this issue despite some people getting angry at you. It’s very fitting that Jeremy and his friends would be concerned about their safety and that of their peers.

Great job today. This strip is perfect and I congratulate you guys for having the courage to post it. I myself am a teen that went to a march in D.C. today so you guys are doing a great job of representing teens lives. This is an amazing strip. I hope you keep up the good work.

Thanks Jim and Jerry for a perfect strip today!!! Kids like Jeremy and his friends know well that unless action is taken for sensible gun policies that limit assault weapons, they are potential targets at their school! Thank you!

Kids like Jeremy and his friends have no clue – that is why the strip has been so funny… but suddenly they supposedly have a brain now? That would be funny if they weren’t so seriously wrong with what is truly wrong – and it certainly isn’t guns.

Like those guys getting mad at dirt for causing such destruction to their van… when dirt isn’t the real problem.

There WERE guns at that school – just that the guys with them didn’t go in and use them. But still, the left is now using the immature age of teens to try to get rid of guns in America… When have ‘kids’ ever been right in their protesting – ask the kids of yesterday who are now adults today – we admit that we were stupid then – but not now!

Insane how so many people are insisting kids wanting to not be killed is some kind of political issue. Good strip…the fact that children and teenagers are not safe in their own schools is a pertinent issue and I’m glad you addressed it.

The guns aren’t to blame– the people wielding them are. We’d just like to make it more difficult for the type of people who’d use them in this way to get their hands on them in the first place. It’s a heck of a lot easier to kill a large group of people with a gun than with other conventional weapons, so regulating them seems like something of a common sense move.

Ok, now that the kids have made their position known with their little ‘walk’ – and now that you have taken your ‘cartoon’ and entered into the politics of it all, have dad now explain to the kid what the real issue is – and how it is NOT guns, nor is it his president – how the left wants to “make America like a third world country’ so Globalism can rule all the newly created slaves in all the countries – an dhow the anti-christ will come and make everyone think things are great again… then boom – it all crumbles when the real Christ comes. Come on, if you feel so brave, now pick up the pace and get real.

I wish sport figures like other “entertainers” would stick to their day job and stop using their field to express political views or influence, their single voice should not have more weight on the masses then the everyday man.

Thanks for pushing the communist agenda for taking more of our rights away from us. You destroyed another entertainment avenue for me. Guns aren’t the issue, discipline is the issue, because parents aren’t allowed to discipline their kids.